Amos & Boris: A Boy, A Dad and Their Adventure

It is so nice to hear stories of parents who step out of their comfort zones to do something special for their children, especially when it is inspired by a favorite bedtime book. We received the sweetest story from our friend Tim, Dad of Otis, who took the nightly tradition of reading a favorite book before bed to another creative level. Tim and Otis' project is based around the William Steig book, Amos & Boris. It fits perfectly in our series ofcrafting with classic books - who's to say a book is over just because you've reached the last page? Tim shared with us a little personal background on the book, their project and some thoughts on creative parenting.

As we hugged goodbye our very best Brooklyn-baby-friends before we moved cross country, they gave us the book of Amos & Boristo remind us of them on our new adventure. The story is about two unlikely friends, a mouse and a whale, forming a life-long bond and helping each other out. I loved the book, and wept when I read it the first 20 times. Besides the theme of friendship, I loved the idea of the mouse building his own boat, studying celestial navigation and enjoying the spirit of great adventure. Considering we had just embarked on our own journey, leaving precious friends behind, it's become a bedtime favorite for all of us.

Holiday time soon came, and my wife and l were kicking around ideas about what we wanted to do for our son. The 'handmade' idea kept coming up. A friend had sent us a link to this denim whale and we were instantly inspired. What a shape. Incidentally, I had also fallen down an internet wormhole looking at these amazing felt sculptures by Stephanie Metz and I knew it was the perfect gift: a denim whale made out of old jeans and a felted mouse. Amos & Boris. So we got to work.

There's an overlap between parenting and creativity when you allow yourself the time and space to arrive in the ballpark of where you intended.Sure, my wife showed me a picture someone had sent her for inspiration, but when I saw it I knew right away it was something we were capable of achieving. Besides, the loose illustration style of author William Steig ensured some forgiveness in the final product. If I was aiming for mouse and whale the whole time, how could I lose? Same thing with parenting. Instead of having this picture of perfection from the outset, just aiming in the general direction I want and seeing where I wind up, always leaves me feeling like I've succeeded.